Chamber and committees

This information is not held centrally and is a matter for individual chief constables.

This information is not held centrally and is a matter for individual chief constables.

The Transport Scotland website at www.transportscotland.gov.uk provides the current position on the four improvement projects on the A737 trunk road along with details of other projects in the Scottish Motorway and Trunk Road Programme.

The A737 is within one of the corridors which will be considered as part of the Strategic Transport Projects Review, in terms of which investment should be prioritised from 2012 to 2022. This review will identify gaps and weaknesses on the national strategic transport network, which includes trunk roads as well as the national rail network.

The Scottish Executivehas recognised the importance of providing more spaces at stations where capacityis regularly exceeded. Transport Scotland, is workingwith rail industry partners to identify and deliver car park expansion opportunitiesacross the country. Executive funding was provided in 2006-07 for five “quick win”projects and this has seen an expansion at Glengarnock station where First ScotRailhas delivered 48 extra spaces.

We have had no discussionswith First ScotRail in relation to increasing services on the Ayr to Glasgow route.

The Scottish Executiverecognises that improved direct air connections can make accessing Scotland easier and more attractive for business, investment andinbound tourism. We therefore intend to promote and encourage the maintenance andexpansion of Scotland’s international air connections which avoid the need for travellersto use connecting flights and reduce reliance on UK internal flights.

The Scottish Executivecurrently provides funding towards the core running costs of the Association of Scottish Neighbourhood Watches.However, there are no currentplans to introduce funding to communities that wish to become neighbourhood watchareas.Communities who wishto establish a new neighbourhood watch scheme should continue to register with theAssociation of Scottish Neighbourhood Watches at www.aosnw.co.uk. In addition, local communitypolice officers will be able to provide advice and information on setting up a scheme.

We are committed tofocus government and public services on creating a more successful country, withopportunities for all of Scotland to flourish through improving our rate ofsustainable economic growth.

We will outline thedetails of how this will be realised in our New Economic Approach, which will bedeveloped this autumn. This will focus on many of the issues raised in the Parliamentary debate on the Wealthier and Fairer theme that took place on 30 May.

There have been nofurther discussions with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in relationto the circumstances surrounding the closure of the Simclar facilities in Ayrshire.The situation remains that informationabout Simclar is being assessed by the companies investigation branch of the DTIwith a view to making a decision about whether to investigate. But that decision,and the process of investigation itself if an investigation is proceeded with, will,as usual, remain confidential.

The Scottish Government places great importance on creating a wealthier and fairer Scotland. We therefore value the contribution being made by the current network of urban regeneration companies (URCs) across Scotland to achieve the long-term, lasting transformation of the areas which they cover. We are keen to maintain an informal network across the URCs pathfinders as a way of promoting the exchange of experience and best practice. Over the period 2004-08, the URCs will have received funding of £66 million from the Scottish Government and decisions on future funding will be taken in the context of the forthcoming spending review.